Also called Uniform Rapid Suspension · Uniform Rapid Suspension System
URS, explained
Complaints go to an ICANN-approved provider, currently the National Arbitration Forum, MFSD or ADNDRC. The registry locks the name within 24 hours of notice, the registrant has 14 calendar days to respond, and an examiner decides on clear and convincing evidence, a higher bar than the UDRP. If the complainant wins, the name stays registered but suspended for the rest of its term and points to an information page; the complainant can extend the term by one year. Transfer is not a remedy.
Legacy extensions such as .org, .info and .biz added the URS when their registry agreements were renewed in 2019. For a domain investor, the risk is a cheap, quick complaint freezing a trademark-adjacent name in a covered extension for the rest of its term. A registrant who misses the deadline can still seek de novo review within six months of the default, extendable by six more, and either side can appeal. The defense is the same as under the UDRP: avoid trademark-heavy names and use generic words for their ordinary meaning.
Example. A brand owner who finds its exact trademark registered in a new gTLD and pointed at a phishing page can file a URS complaint to have the name suspended quickly.
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- ICANN — Uniform Rapid Suspension System procedure (Feb 21, 2024 version)
- ICANN — URS FAQs for complainants and respondents (Apr 23, 2025)
- ICANN — Uniform Rapid Suspension, approved providers (accessed Oct 1, 2026)
- Com Laude — ICANN renewal of legacy TLD contracts adds URS to .org, .info, .biz and .asia (Apr 18, 2019)
- ICANN — .org Registry Agreement, June 30, 2019 (includes the URS)
- ICANN — .info Registry Agreement, June 30, 2019 (includes the URS)
- ICANN — .biz Registry Agreement, June 30, 2019 (includes the URS)
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